HULL - Someone setting off illegal fireworks on the beach sparked a brush fire on the nearby dunes and nearly caught a neighboring home on fire, according to Hull's fire chief.

Chief Robert Hollingshead said firefighters were sent to 251 Beach Ave. around 9:30 p.m. Saturday after ricocheting fireworks struck the home and ignited several decorative flags on a third-floor deck. Hollings head said the homeowner had extinguished the fire with a garden hose by the time firefighters arrived, but the fireworks had also sparked a brush fire on nearby dunes which had to be doused with a fire hose.

"As always, we're warning people about the risks and the dangers or fireworks,” Hollingshead said. “We are playing against the odds every year and this year we were close to having a more serious accident.”

Hollingshead said the town’s conservation official had gone to examine the damage to the dunes, which are owned by the town. He said fire officials were unable to determine who set off the fireworks that sparked the fires.